Ausangate

Ausangate
The western face of Ausangate Mountain
Elevation	6,384 m (20,945 ft)
Location
Ausangate Cusco Region, Peru
Range	Andes, Cordillera Vilcanota
Coordinates	13°47′19″S 71°13′52″W / 13.78861°S 71.23111°W / -13.78861; -71.23111Coordinates: 13°47′19″S 71°13′52″W / 13.78861°S 71.23111°W / -13.78861; -71.23111

Ausangate (Quechua: Awsanqati) is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. With an altitude of 6,384 metres it is situated around 100 kilometres southeast of Cusco.

The mountain has significance in Incan mythology. Every year on the north side of Ausangate the feast of Qoyllur Rit'i (Quechua: "snow star") is celebrated before the feast of the Corpus Christi, during which thousands of Quechua pilgrims attend.

The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953.

The region is inhabited by llama and alpaca herding communities, and constitutes one of the few remaining pastoralist societies in the world. High mountain trails are used by these herders to trade with agricultural communities at lower elevations. Currently, one of these trails, "the road of the Apu Ausangate", is one of the most renowned treks in Peru.

The area has four major geological features, the Andean uplift formed by Granits, the hanging glaciers and glacial erosional valleys, the Permian formation with its singular colors: red, ochre, and turquoise and the Cretaceous, limestone forests.

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